An Association between Maternal Occupations and Low Birth Weight Infants in Japan from 1995 to 2015

Differences in low birth weight rate depending on maternal socioeconomic characteristics have not yet been demonstrated using the Vital Statistics in Japan; therefore, this study aimed to investigate these differences according to maternal occupations. “Report of Vital Statistics: Occupational and Industrial Aspects” and the Vital Statistics in Japan were used every five years from 1995 to 2015. Nine types of occupations were compared. The low birth weight rate was calculated according to maternal occupations and year. Also, the standardized low birth weight ratio was obtained by dividing the number of low-birth-weight infants for each maternal occupation by an expected number of low birth weight infants. The standardized low birth weight ratio for manual workers was the highest among all occupations from 2000 to 2015, and it was significantly higher than one throughout the years. The ratio for clerical workers was also significantly higher than one from 1995 to 2010. Whereas, the ratio for farmers was significantly lower than one in most of the years. It was suggested that health guidance and prenatal care are particularly needed for manual workers, and a study investigating the differences in prenatal characteristics among maternal occupations is necessary for finding a reason for disparity.

Personalia and women’s spatial practices in the routine office

Office design is a contemporary cultural discourse, where space is conceived in abstract terms. Organizations mission and purpose are translated into the spatial design of workplaces. In the most dominant sectors such as finance and banking neoliberal organizations operate around the space of flows, generated by globalization, technology and postmodernity (Castells, 2000). The space of flows is also manifest in the spatial design of the workplace shaping employees’ working identities and behaviours. The dissertation asserts that there are two classes of office workers evolving in the workplace: the professional knowledge workers who are increasingly mobile and autonomous; and the routine clerical workers who are captive in a hegemonic system that keeps them doing clerical work with little prospect of promotion. It is significant that the clerical class is composed mostly of women. Personalia and Women’s Spatial Practices In The Routine Office examines the head offices of Investors Group in Winnipeg, Canada, in terms of how the company’s offices both reflect and generate spaces of flows. Women’s participation rates have grown from being a small minority in the 1900s to approximately 70% of the clerical workforce in the 2000s. Through microanalysis of previously unexamined personalia, or personal objects at the desk, the dissertation finds work spaces are expressive of women’s lived experiences of work. By conducting interviews and photographic studies of the workspaces of 11 women at Investors Group the research uncovers the ways women use the personalia at their desks to reappropriate the everyday spaces of the office. The identification of the term personalia becomes a key concept in the work and a contribution to the study of the close environment of the office desk. Social networks with co-workers, past and present are honored in the personalia at the desk; and tactics such as repurposing office supplies as gifts, along with numerous individual and heterogeneous behaviours demonstrate that routine work spaces are not neutral spaces, but are open to the expressive practices which de Certeau calls operations. The ways that women make space for themselves and push against the hegemony of the neoliberal organization are specific and instructive. They reflect women’s values and the identities crafted for public and private consumption. The research closely examines the practices of women in the financial services industry through the filter of Lefebvre’s trialectic for the analysis of space (1991), de Certeau’s ways of operating and tactics (1998), and Franck’s interpretation of Women’s Ways of Knowing (1989; 2000). The research demonstrates how personalia in the contemporary workplace reflects women’s values, and how women’s values have influenced the design of the workplace.

Personalia and women’s spatial practices in the routine office

Office design is a contemporary cultural discourse, where space is conceived in abstract terms. Organizations mission and purpose are translated into the spatial design of workplaces. In the most dominant sectors such as finance and banking neoliberal organizations operate around the space of flows, generated by globalization, technology and postmodernity (Castells, 2000). The space of flows is also manifest in the spatial design of the workplace shaping employees’ working identities and behaviours. The dissertation asserts that there are two classes of office workers evolving in the workplace: the professional knowledge workers who are increasingly mobile and autonomous; and the routine clerical workers who are captive in a hegemonic system that keeps them doing clerical work with little prospect of promotion. It is significant that the clerical class is composed mostly of women. Personalia and Women’s Spatial Practices In The Routine Office examines the head offices of Investors Group in Winnipeg, Canada, in terms of how the company’s offices both reflect and generate spaces of flows. Women’s participation rates have grown from being a small minority in the 1900s to approximately 70% of the clerical workforce in the 2000s. Through microanalysis of previously unexamined personalia, or personal objects at the desk, the dissertation finds work spaces are expressive of women’s lived experiences of work. By conducting interviews and photographic studies of the workspaces of 11 women at Investors Group the research uncovers the ways women use the personalia at their desks to reappropriate the everyday spaces of the office. The identification of the term personalia becomes a key concept in the work and a contribution to the study of the close environment of the office desk. Social networks with co-workers, past and present are honored in the personalia at the desk; and tactics such as repurposing office supplies as gifts, along with numerous individual and heterogeneous behaviours demonstrate that routine work spaces are not neutral spaces, but are open to the expressive practices which de Certeau calls operations. The ways that women make space for themselves and push against the hegemony of the neoliberal organization are specific and instructive. They reflect women’s values and the identities crafted for public and private consumption. The research closely examines the practices of women in the financial services industry through the filter of Lefebvre’s trialectic for the analysis of space (1991), de Certeau’s ways of operating and tactics (1998), and Franck’s interpretation of Women’s Ways of Knowing (1989; 2000). The research demonstrates how personalia in the contemporary workplace reflects women’s values, and how women’s values have influenced the design of the workplace.

Doing the Lord’s Work

Unlike most elderly workers, the Labor Board vets continued to work to the end of their lives. They had a mission in life. This chapter explores their work in their latter years. After briefly discussing Jean McKelvey, Clark Kerr, Ben Aaron, Robben Fleming, and George Shultz, it focuses on John Dunlop’s work with the clerical workers union at Harvard University, his work with the farmworkers union in Ohio and Michigan, and the commission he chaired at the request of President Bill Clinton to improve worker, union, and management relations in the United States. The first two efforts were successful, the latter a complete failure. The world overwhelmed the reformers

In Search of a Better Life: Paperwork on Reshuffles in Church Institutions in the Second Half of the 18th - Early 20th Century: A Case-Study of the Tobolsk Spiritual Consistory

The article studies reasons for moving employees and ministers of ecclesiastical institutions of the Tobolsk diocese in the second half of the 18th – early 20th century and analyses the procedure of the reshuffles. This topic has not been studied yet, it is here disclosed on basis of archival sources that are being introduced into scientific use. The author has studied files of the Tobolsk spiritual consistory stored in the State Archive in the city of Tobolsk. The article reveals content of these cases, examines documents on reshuffles of ministers of church institutions of the Tobolsk diocese. The author determines terms, on which the record keeping procedure depended, identifies its main stages, isolates initiating documents in the files. The most frequent reason for the displacement of church institutions officials and ministers was their inability to support themselves and their families on the salary. When ecclesiastical consistory needed clerical workers, the diocesan authorities preferred to transfer experienced employees from other church institutions, rather than to accept graduates from educational institutions where they were taught nothing of office work. Moreover, most graduates preferred the civil service to the spiritual, so there was a lack of clerical workers, and sometimes freelancer clerks were to be hired. The documents interesting not for dry statement of facts, but for remarks and reflections that are often emotionally colored. The archival documents show that the Russian Orthodox Church took care of all of its servants, even those disabled, in ill health or elderly and found opportunity to find them all a suitable position within their power.

Keeping up with the codes; accounting for quality in cancer patient pathways (CPPs) in Norway

Background Standardised cancer patient pathways (CPPs) were introduced in Norway in 2015. CPPs are national standardised patient pathways which are discipline- and target-based (28 cancer diagnoses), aiming to minimize waiting times and make cancer care more predictable and secure for patients. One important part of the CPPs are different codes aimed at measuring time in the different phases of the pathway. These codes are reported to the Norwegian directorate for health and are made public on a national web site. On the basis of these reports hospitals across the country can be compared regarding compliance to timescales. From a political and bureaucratic level, the codes are seen as signs of quality, and hence very important. Methods In this paper, we present preliminary results from a project which is evaluating the introduction of CPPs. Based on interviews with administrative staff responsible for coding and with other health personnel (physicians, nurses, clerical workers and managers) in different hospitals, we present experiences with and perceptions of coding practices. Results We find that even though the coding manual is presented as a universal tool implying standardised coding practices, there is a multitude of coding practices (which makes comparison between hospitals challenging). The coding represents a massive bureaucratic workload for the dedicated staff, raising concerns if their time is spent on the most important issues. Conclusions The codes are seen as timescales set according to logistics and not according to what is medically safe - and some of the health personnel argue that these timescales have nothing to do with quality. However, they still recognize that keeping the timescales might be important for the patient experience. Key messages Standardised coding are often not standardised, but contains a multitude of practices. These practices need to be explored in order to understand if and how codes can be seen as signs of quality.

Speedy, predictable and secure cancer care? Introducing cancer patient pathways in Norway

Norway introduced cancer patient pathways (CPPs) in 2015. CPPs are standardised patient pathways, based on current guidelines for cancer diagnostics and treatment. The aim is to speed up patient assessments and start of treatment and minimise waiting times, in order to make the assessment period as predictable as possible. Each CPP are divided into phases, and each phase should be completed within a defined time period. The aim of this paper is to describe and discuss how healthcare professionals work to realise the objectives of the CPPs and how they reflect upon them as tools for achieving predictable and secure cancer care. The paper departs from an ongoing study (2017-2020) investigating the introduction of CPPs in Norway. The study has a qualitative cross-sectional design and focuses on four CPPs: breast-, prostate, and lung cancer, and malign melanoma. Data are mainly collected through interviews. The study setting is four hospitals, and study participants are hospital staff, including physicians, nurses, clerical workers and managers (N = 60). Preliminary results show that keeping the waiting times has become a major concern, and national statistics are published showing if the hospitals keep the defined time limits. From the perspective of healthcare workers, CPPs may contribute to a predictable assessment period for patients, and thereby creating a more secure experience. However, predictability and security rest on patients being informed about receiving care organised through a CPP. We found that in many instances this was not the case. Our study indicates that most effort in hospitals is directed towards reducing waiting times, and we argue that publishing of statistics may be an incentive for hospitals to reorganise their resources and prioritize cancer patients before other (elective) patients. Further development of the CPPs should encourage informing and supporting patients so they can have the most predictable and secure experience as possible. Key messages Patient pathways is an incentive to reorganise resources to reach defined time limits in cancer diagnostics. Short waiting times are positive for patients, even if survival rate is not necessarily affected.